Rangers freeze out BBC ahead of ‘Inside Story’ documentary

Instead, the club said it was they had taken the course of action after “repeated difficulties” with the BBC, and accused the broadcaster of adopting a “negative attitude” towards Rangers.

The documentary, entitled Rangers – The Inside Story, is scheduled to be shown on BBC One at 7pm tomorrow and explores owner Craig Whyte’s takeover of Rangers.

The BBC website says the documentary “investigates the current plight of Rangers FC, and asks what the future might hold under new owner, Craig Whyte”. It’s screening is likely to cause unease within the Ibrox boardroom, especially in a week that has seen club legend John Greig and former chairman John McCelland resign their positions as non-executive directors.

But a source close to White told The Scotsman last night that although the owner regarded the programme as a “hatchet job”, he had not seen an advance copy of the programme, and had taken yesterday’s stance due to what is perceived as “constant negativity” towards Rangers rather than the documentary itself.

In a statement on the club’s official website, Rangers described the programme as “little more than a prejudiced muckraking exercise”.

The Clydesdale Bank Premier League club first withdrew co-operation with the BBC because of a national news report on sectarianism before the opening weekend of the SPL season in July.

However, the BBC apologised for an “inappropriate edit” after Rangers manager Ally McCoist was shown smirking while audio was played of a news reporter questioning him about the behaviour of supporters at Old Firm matches.

McCoist, a former team captain on BBC show A Question Of Sport, said he was “appalled” that his response to another question had been inserted in the feature shown on the Six O’clock News on BBC1 on 22 July.

A statement released by Rangers said: “Rangers Football Club is withdrawing all co-operation with the BBC as of today. The decision has been taken due to the repeated difficulties the club has encountered with the BBC this season.

“The club was forced earlier in the season to suspend co-operation with the BBC over its serious misrepresentation of the club manager’s position on violence and sectarianism. There have also been other instances where the BBC’s reporting on the club’s affairs has been neither accurate or fair.

“Furthermore, over the past few weeks the BBC has been involved in making a documentary about the club which appears to be little more than a prejudiced muckraking exercise. Efforts to ensure that reporting of the club’s affairs should be balanced and fair appear to have been in vain.

“The club believes that the BBC has on a number of occasions now demonstrated a pre-determined negative attitude towards Rangers and its fans, and its journalism has fallen well short of acceptable standards.

“The decision to end co-operation with the BBC has been taken very reluctantly but the club feels it has been left with no other option.”

A BBC Scotland spokesman responded: “Rangers FC has made a number of assertions in relation to our journalistic standards, including a claim of underlying bias against the club. We completely refute (sic) this allegation in the strongest terms.

“All of our reporting of matters pertinent to the running of Rangers FC reflects the high standard expected of the BBC, an organisation that places an absolute value on the accuracy and impartiality of its journalism.

“The club has also made specific criticisms of a documentary scheduled for transmission at 7pm on BBC One Scotland on Thursday. We have assured them that rigorous editorial standards will be applied and nothing will be broadcast that is not both accurate and in the public interest.”

The withdrawal of co-operation effectively means that neither McCoist or any of his players will offer interviews to BBC journalists. A source said the club was also exploring the possibility of withdrawing BBC passes to Ibrox.